Hydraulic system for serving food

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for serving and displaying food including a continuous watercourse. Patrons sit around a periphery of the watercourse and food carriers circulate in the watercourse and carry various types of food. The food carriers are structurally independent from one another so that each food carriers is independently removable from the watercourse. The food carriers also have a bumper sized to maintain a predetermined spacing between the food carriers in the watercourse.

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 08/149,687, filed Nov. 9,1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,153.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of food delivery and servicedevices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a methodand apparatus for continuously serving and displaying food.

The concept of displaying food along a circular path of travel before agroup of patrons has enjoyed success in Japanese restaurants which servesushi. In the traditional method of serving sushi the patrons sit infront of the sushi chef and order sushi. A single sushi order is quitesmall and a single meal generally comprises a number of individualorders which requires a number of interactions between the patron andthe sushi chef. The large number of transactions between the sushi chefand each patron limits the number of patrons a sushi chef can serve.Furthermore, making sushi is a relatively involved process. Thus, in thetraditional method of serving sushi the patron can wait quite a longtime before being served.

With the introduction of automatic food display and service systems asushi chef can serve a greater number of patrons while providing freshsushi to the patron as soon as the patron is seated. One such fooddisplay system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,032 to Imanaka.Imanaka discloses a continuous chain of small food carriers having theshape of boats arranged in a watercourse. The bow of each boat isphysically attached to the stern of an adjacent boat via a chain orother interconnecting member. Food orders are placed on the boats whichare circulated around the watercourse via a water current. Patronsseated around the watercourse remove the food orders from the boats asthey pass by. A wide variety of sushi is placed on the boats forpresentation to the patrons. The chef monitors and replenishes emptyboats with the appropriate variety of sushi. In this manner the sushichef can serve a greater number of patrons while continually presentinga wide variety of sushi to the patrons.

As can be appreciated, the device of Imanaka suffers from thedisadvantage that the boats are connected together. Thus, removal of asingle boat for repair or any other reason requires that the boat besevered from the continuous chain. Such a removal requires disabling theentire system. Disabling the system is obviously troublesome since thesushi cannot be served to the patrons during this time.

A further problem with Imanaka occurs when the watercourse must becleaned. When preparing and serving sushi very sterile conditions arerequired due to the nature of the food. The food delivery system ofImanaka requires that each boat be disconnected from the line or,alternatively, all boats be removed at once to clean the watercourse.Either procedure can be quite time consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The food service and delivery system of the present invention includesfood carriers which are structurally independent from one another sothat each food carrier is independently removable from the watercoursefor repair or any other reason.

The food carriers include a bumper sized to maintain a predeterminedspacing between the food carriers in the watercourse. The predeterminedspacing gives the patron adequate time to select sushi from adjacentfood carriers and also gives the sushi chef adequate time to add sushito adjacent food carriers. The bumper also prevents the carriers fromcontacting one another to minimize wear and tear on the carriers.

The bumper is preferably a wire which is substantially positioned belowa free surface of the water in the watercourse so that the bumper doesnot ruin the aesthetic appeal of the boats in the waterway. The carrieris preferably in the form of a boat having a bow and a stern. Both endsof the wire are preferably connected to the stern of the boat to form aclosed loop.

The bumper-also preferably has a width which is substantially equal tothe width of the watercourse so that the boat maintains alignment withthe waterway. In this manner, the bumper minimizes contact between thefood carrier and the watercourse wall.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description in which the preferred embodiments have been setforth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a food display and service system including a watercourseand a number of individual, unconnected food carriers;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a food carrier in the watercourse; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the food carrier of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the food carrier illustrated the T-bar bumper.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A food display and delivery system 2 is shown in FIG. 1. A continuouswatercourse 4 has an outer periphery 6 about which seats 7 arepositioned for seating patrons. A number of food carriers 8 in the formof boats float on the watercourse 4. A pump 10 induces a current in thewatercourse in the direction of arrow 12. The inlet 11 and outlet 13 ofthe pump 10 are fluidly coupled to the water in the watercourse 4 andare configured to induce the current.

The patrons observe the food carriers 8 as they float by and select thevarious foods presented on them. After the food on a food carrier hasbeen removed, a food preparer adds an appropriate type of food dependingupon the current variety available on the other food carriers. The foodcarriers may optionally include an indication of what type of food thefood carrier carries so that the preparer does not have to monitor allof the food carriers. The indicators help the food preparer maintain awide variety of the food.

The food carriers 8 are unconnected and, therefore, can be removedindividually from the watercourse 4. Thus, an individual food carrier 8may be removed for repair without interrupting the circulation of theother food carriers. A stand-by food carrier 8A may be added to thewatercourse 4 to replace the removed food carrier. The unconnected foodcarriers 8 also facilitate cleaning of the watercourse since the foodcarriers can be removed quickly without having to disconnect the foodcarriers 8 from one another or without having to remove all of the foodcarriers 8 at the same time.

The unconnected food carriers also advantageously permit quickadjustment of the number of food carriers in the watercourse 4 at agiven time. When sushi is served, for example, it is desired to providea fresh product. Thus, it is undesirable to have the same food on thefood carrier for an extended period of time. In order to turn the foodover in a short period of time, the number of food carriers in thewatercourse can be increased or decreased depending on the number ofpatrons. Thus, when a great number of patrons are being served a greaternumber of food carriers can be introduced into the watercourse.Conversely, when a small number of patrons are being served a lowernumber of food carriers may be provided.

The food carrier has a bumper 14 which maintains a predetermined minimumspacing α between the food carriers 8 (FIG. 2). The predeterminedspacing α gives the patrons time to select food from adjacent foodcarriers 8 and also gives the food preparer time to add food to adjacentcarriers. The bumper 14 also prevents the food carriers from contactingone another.

The bumper 14 is preferably a wire loop connected to the food carrier atfirst and second ends 18, 20 to form a closed loop (FIG. 3). When thefood carrier is in the form of a boat, it is preferable to connect thebumper to a stern 19 rather than a bow 21 of the boat. The bumper maytake many forms, for example, a rigid T-shaped member, or a loop in theshape of a square or triangle. The bumper is designed so as not todistract from the overall aesthetic appeal of the system. The bumper 14is also preferably substantially positioned below a free surface 20 ofthe watercourse. By positioning the bumper below the free surface theaesthetic appearance of the system is not compromised. The bumper 14may, of course, also be positioned above the free surface of thewatercourse as depicted in broken lines 23 in FIG. 2.

The bumper has a width β which is substantially equal to the width ε ofthe watercourse 4 so that the bumper 14 helps to keep the food carrieraligned with the watercourse 4. The bumper also minimizes contactbetween the food carrier and a watercourse wall 26 thereby reducing wearand tear on the food carriers.

The bumper has a relatively long length γ as compared to the overalllength of the food carrier. The food carrier has a length of the waterline δ as shown in FIG. 2. The length of the bumper γ is preferably atleast one quarter the length of the water line δ and most preferably atleast one third the length of the water line δ.

Modification and variation can be made to the disclosed embodimentswithout departing from the subject of the invention as defined by thefollowing claims. For example, the wire bumper may take any form so longas a claimed dimension is satisfied, the wire bumper tan be connected tothe bow rather than the stern, the predetermined distance formed by thebumpers may vary, and the food carriers may take the form of a raft-likestructure rather than a boat.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for serving and displaying food comprising:a continuous watercourse having a watercourse width and an outer periphery, the continuous watercourse containing water having a free surface; means for inducing a current in the continuous watercourse; a plurality of food carriers floating in the continuous watercourse under the influence said current, said food carriers being structurally independent from one another so that each food carrier is independently removable from said watercourse, said food carriers each having a length of the water line when floating in the watercourse; and a plurality of bumpers positioned between said food carriers and sized to maintain a predetermined spacing between said food carriers in said watercourse, the bumpers having a length in the direction of current equal to at least one-quarter the length of the waterline, each bumper comprising a T-bar extending from one of the food carriers. 